Hi.

Oct 13 Whole Chicken Noodle Soup

There’s something about knowing what to do with a whole chicken that makes me feel down-home badass. Pioneer Woman ain’t got nothing on me. That’s what I tell myself as I debone the bird. Debone also sounds so very professional (and slightly inappropriate).

I decided that we needed chicken noodle soup to cure our colds, but mostly I needed time in the kitchen. Does it matter that we had just meal-prepped and stocked the fridge? Nope. Off to the store we go. My original plan was to make the whole chicken noodle soup and then use the bones to make bone broth, but that didn’t happen.

The gift of this soup is that it is super healthy because there are nutrients in the bones and the fat from the chicken is super good for you. BUT, the fat is in the skin! It’s hiding in there, and when we get boneless skinless breasts, it’s not there. This is that good fat people preach about. I’m a full believer in it. Strengthens your brain, keeps you full, gives you Rapunzel hair, etc. etc. These are also excellent sources of fat and vitamins for toddler brains! Boyd LOVED this meal and basically ate his body weight in shredded chicken and egg noodles. Though we learned that broth is hard for babies.

Benefits of Whole Chicken Noodle Soup:

Cures the common cold

Makes the house smell cozy

Delicious

Nutritious

EASY

I do my whole chicken noodle soup in the crock pot, though an Instant Pot would be better. The weird part is going to be browning the bird before hand, because it’s a whole chicken! But it’s easier than you think, I promise.

Also a pro tip! Adding turmeric, ginger, and lime are my secret ingredients for making this have a little zing and pumping up the nutritional value - all three of these will help your body get rid of any seasonal ail.

Pat chicken dry with paper towel and lightly massage with salt and pepper ALL OVER.

Prep your pan with olive oil and brown your chicken on the stove over medium heat. I used a number 10 cast iron skillet for this because I swear the flavor is better and you can easily let the chicken lean onto the side of the pan.

Brown as many sides as you can – top, bottom, and each wing side for about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Sautee onions until translucent and soft, then put in crockpot.

Add celery, carrots, and bay leaves to bottom of crock.

Place chicken on top of veggies.

Add water.

Add turmeric, ginger, and a squeeze of lime.

Set crockpot to high for 6 hours.

Once crockpot is done and soup is ready, prepare pasta by itself according to the instructions, and then add the cooked noodles in. If you just throw the noodles into the crock (which I sometimes do because I am a wild renegare) they will absorb a lot of the broth and leave you with chicken noodle pasta, instead of soup. Your choice though.

While pasta is prepping, remove your chicken from the crockpot and shredded the meat off the bones. It will basically fall off indicating that yes, you have made this right and the family will love it.

I remove all the skin, because the fat has made its way into the broth, so all you should have left is shredded chicken to place back into the crock of soup.